“We deliberately got those two young fellas (Jake Morris and Ger Browne) onto the pitch today because you could not buy the experience of playing out there.

“The fellas who played against Limerick and we didn’t see out there today (Alan Flynn, Donagh Maher, Barry Heffernan, Willie Connors, and Sean Curran), they haven’t gone away. They’re still fighting and that’s what we need.

“We have a really good fighting chance in this championship yet.”

For John McGrath, who scored five second-half points and knocked Sean O’Donoghue off the ball to set up Morris’s leveller, that 35-minute performance was the confidence-booster Tipperary needed.

“We showed everything that’s good about Tipp hurling in that second half,” said the Loughmore man.

“We put in a massive effort and we’re a little bit disappointed with the draw. We’ve a big second half to work with and give us confidence going forward.”

He added that their first-half failures were matters that were solved with simple tweaks.

“I don’t think it was anything major. We just needed to tweak things. Cork were really clever with the ball and we just needed to shove up a little bit.

“Mark Ellis was a real out-ball for them in the backs and we tightened up on that in the second half.

We’ll leave aside the fact that Jake Morris’ equaliser split the posts clear as day, making one wonder why HawkEye was required at all. No harm in double-checking and all that. But that shouldn’t have been the final play. HawkEye was signalled for with 40 seconds remaining on the clock.

Had HawkEye not been called for, we’d have had an extra play. Tipperary deserved their chance to push for a comeback-completing winner. Cork deserved their right to re-establish a lead once more. Such an enthralling encounter should’ve been allowed to play out its finale, win, lose or draw. We’ll never know how it could’ve ended.

Time for Tipperary’s class of 2016 to step up

It’s been two years since Tipperary last showed their full scope in championship fare. That 2016 All-Ireland final win over Kilkenny has not been built upon to its potential, but perhaps the minors who also lit up Croke Park that day could be the answer. They were endlessly impressive in a year which included the seven-goal rout of Galway.

Yesterday, we saw the first flash from that team at senior level to end an impressive, if belated, backlash. Jake Morris, who was only recently called into the panel, has the potential to be the real deal. So do fellow panellists Ger Browne, Mark Kehoe and a few others.

Cork’s collapse won’t damage their All-Ireland ambitions

Having been in position to complete back-to-back victories in Thurles, a second-half deficit of 0-8 to 1-14 fell far below Cork’s standards. They had their chances to kill off Tipperary and send them into crisis but didn’t do so. A fair share of wrong options and needless turnovers contributed to that but Tipp forced them into mistakes too. What happens most recently remains in the mind longer, however, it’s not just about how Cork lost their lead, but how they rebuilt a three-point cushion before Tipp’s final charge.

It shouldn’t just be about Sean O’Donoghue fumbling with the ball late on but his two second-half block-downs. It shouldn’t just be about the goals conceded but Anthony Nash’s mind-bogging reaction save, nor the scores conceded but Shane Kingston’s 1-5.

They withstood a Tipperary storm and emerged in good nick. If they can make a few fixes, there’s so much to work with.